Friday, November 18, 2005

Wanna See the New Zorro Flick?

As usual, you will emerge refreshed, edified, and just a little bit smarter than you were going in.

For instance, did you know this?

First, a little history. McCulley began publishing his Zorro tales in pulp magazines in 1919, with the serialization of The Curse of Capistrano, which was published in book form as The Mark of Zorro after being adapted for a highly successful Douglas Fairbanks movie of the same name in 1920. McCulley published his last Zorro tales in 1951. Although the series evolved over time, especially the film adaptations, the central premise remained constant: an unprepossessing young nobleman assumes a disguise as Zorro ("the fox") and uses his wits, sword, and whip to fight an unjust and oppressive political order. (The concept is obviously based on Baroness Orczy's hugely successful "Scarlet Pimpernel" series.)

2 comments:

I did, however, find this bit a tad disingenuous: "...the relationship resembles that of the Iraqi insurgents and the international group that supports and controls them." It is estimated that only a tenth of the estimated 50,000 insurgents are affiliated with foreign jihadists (i.e. al-Qaeda).

I found this to be particularly true and an excellent capstone to your review: "Religion, the film makes clear, is not the real cause of international unrest; the struggle for earthly power is what's actually behind it all. That, too, rings especially true at this time."

James, we agree on something again. Whenever somebody goes on a big religion ruins everything rant, it's always useful to point out that the very clear lesson is one against excess power rather than anything unique about religion.

The Reform Club, c. 1915

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